1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to automated high-volume capping of bottles and containers and, more particularly, to an improved high-throughput system for screw-capping a continuous supply of bottles with a continuous supply of screw-caps.
2. Description of the Background
The filling and capping process generally entails supplying bottles, containers, or cases containing bottles/containers along a conveyor, automatically filling them at a filling station, and automatically capping them at a capping station. Various testing and control functions may be performed along the way, for instance, testing and control of fill volume, cap torque, conveyor velocity, etc. The apparatus which performs the process must be capable of accommodating a wide variety of containers since they can vary in size, shape, neck angle, etc.
There are a variety of capping machines currently utilized in the packaging industry. Perhaps the most common is the “continuous rotary motion screw capper” in which a supply of screw caps are fed into a star wheel. Similarly, a supply of filled containers are fed into a second star wheel. The system lifts screw caps from the cap star wheel and screws them onto the threaded neck of a corresponding container.
Examples of prior art capping systems include the following:
U.S. Pat. No. 6,874,301 to Kitamoto shows a capping apparatus 1 including a torque sensor 12 which detects an output torque when a chuck 7 is driven for rotation by a motor 9.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,804,929 to Kemnitz shows a rotary capping apparatus and feedback control apparatus for regulating torque applied to screw-on type caps for containers.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,684,603 to Nerve shows automatic capping equipment comprising a rotary screwing head.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,564,529 to Reinecke shows a bottle-capping machine with a conveyor to move the bottles through a fitting station.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,519,913 to Higashizaki et al. shows a screw capper including a capping head which comprises a chuck for holding a cap, a motor for driving the chuck for rotation, a cam mechanism for elevating the chuck, and an air cylinder for imparting a load to the chuck.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,508,046 to Resterhouse et al. shows a self-adjusting capping chuck for use in association with a filler and/or capper.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,240,678 to Spether shows a capping head with a spindle mounting collar and a clutch housing.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,115,992 to Bankuty et al. shows a pre-capping machine and method for pre-capping containers that are advanced along a predetermined path by standard conveyor.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,105,343 to Grove et al. shows a capping machine with a rotatable turret and a rotatable cap chuck which grips the cap and positions the cap on the container. The cap chuck is rotated by a spindle driven by a servo motor at adjustable and reversible rotation. The torque imparted to the cap is monitored by a torque monitor
U.S. Pat. No. 6,023,910 to Lubus et al. shows a machine for attaching threaded caps to containers continuously moving in a longitudinal path and having endless belts disposed at opposite sides.
U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,918,442, 5,669,209 and 5,915,526 to Dewees et al. shows a straight line capping machine in which the cap tightening discs and the container grasping mechanism are synchronized to a predetermined relationship so as to prevent cocked caps, loose caps and/or scuffed caps.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,699,654 to van den Akker et al. shows a cap chute which is particularly suitable for applying a press-on twist-off cap having a tamper-evident ring.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,689,932 to Peronec et al. shows a star-wheel capping machine.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,623,806 to Larson et al. shows a rapid changeover apparatus for rapid interchanging of different ramping mechanisms for capping equipment.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,417,031 to Bankuty et al. Shows a capping machine with at least one spindle assembly slideably carried by a support frame for movement generally parallel to the vertical axis of the spindle assembly.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,400,564 to Humphries et al. shows a capping machine with rotary chuck for holding a cap above the capping position, forward and reverse rotary drive means coupled to the chuck for rotating such a cap in both a clockwise sense and an anticlockwise sense, rotary movement monitoring means constructed and positioned to monitor rotation of the chuck, linear motion means coupled to the chuck to move the chuck both downwardly and upwardly,
U.S. Pat. No. 5,157,897 to McKee et al. shows a rotary capping machine is disclosed for application of screw-on closure caps to bottles, jars, or other containers. The machine includes a guiding mechanism which insures that a cap is held in a proper position on a transfer mechanism of the machine.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,115,617 to Lewis et al. shows a system to cap in succession containers transported in serial order on a conveyor belt.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,932,824 to Goslin shows a chute for delivering caps in succession, one at a time, to a distributor for application to the tops of containers. The force against the bottom cap is reduced.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,662,153 to Wozniak shows an apparatus for applying container caps of different sizes to containers.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,608,806 to Haslam et al. shows a capping machine for applying removable closures to bottles, jars using a capping head that is infinitely variable by simple adjustment.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,267,683 to Harrington shows a coupling mechanism for interconnecting a drive spindle and a capping chuck
More recently, belt-wheel type (or “spindle”) capping machines have been introduced which improve the throughput. With belt-wheel cappers, the bottles enter in a straight line, the caps are fed in to meet the bottles, and the caps are engaged by one or more capping heads that screw the caps onto the bottles continuously, with high efficiency and minimal user oversight. Available belt-wheel capping systems are capable of production speeds ranging from 50 to 200 bottles/minute.
FIG. 1 is an example of an existing belt-wheel type (or “spindle”) capping machine that is a fully automatic, straight line, six spindle capper. Very generally, the bottles enter in a straight line as indicated, the caps are fed from a hopper down a tangential chute to meet the bottles, and the caps are engaged by one or more capping heads that screw the caps onto the bottles continuously, efficiently, and with very little user oversight. This particular device employs six spindles (arranged in two parallel sets of three) to engage and progressively tighten caps as they progress through the spindles, and two sets of clutches to adjust the torque applied by each set of spindles. The entire system is supported on a heavy duty stainless steel frame. Unfortunately, the capping heads can be complex, utilizing magnetic clutch(es) that may be adjusted for torque adjustment. Adjustment usually requires each capping head to be disassembled and adjusted using tools, and this extends the downtime associated with setting up a capping machine of this sort to run a specific type/size of bottle.
There is a tremendous need for higher efficiencies and increased productivity in general, and perhaps the most effective way to achieve this is to simplify and coordinate the changeover process associated with setting up a belt-wheel type capping machine for each new production run of bottles and caps, thereby minimizing the level of expertise needed to accomplish each changeover and minimizing downtime between each changeover.